Shaping Arrows

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Oh my goodness........

Are we really going into ANOTHER week of waiting?! I suppose we are...........
I barely have words to describe the pain we have been feeling over these last 3 or 4 weeks. It's like one of those horrible nightmares that won't end and just keeps going over and over. I guess the movie Ground Hog Day is the best way to describe it.

Monday we hope for this coming week that finally our case will move.
Tuesday we shrugging off doubts and continue to hope.
Wednesday we start questioning why we hoped.
Thursday we feel that hope slowly slipping away.
Friday as stephen says, "I crawl into bed pull the covers over our head and cry"

And that has been the case every week for the last month and a half. I know unless you have REALLY been in our shoes you can't understand. Even for most other adoptive families that we know, few know the pain of waiting this long, this early in the process. Having your case stuck in one step of the journey for months on end. Knowing that you still have month of waiting in front of you before you can bring your child home.

To make matters worse we have really been concerned with all thats been going on in Egypt. Ethiopia is not really that far from Egypt. Our concern is that there could be some kind of political unrest there and cause huge delays with getting A home or worse...

Last week was really hard because I guess we had more hope since corporate said that we should be getting submitted to court. But by friday night we realized that it was just another week, same as every week before. And here we are at the beginning of week 16 and we feel that hope creeping up on us. Everything in me wants to tell it to go away, that there is no hope, but I know there is.

At the end of each week when I feel as low as I possibly can, the Lord has been faithful to come and minster to my heart and prepare me for the coming week.

So here we are starting another monday. This week is going to be extra challenging for several reason....
-Several families with similar DTE's and Referrals are traveling to meet their children.
-We again are told to expect to submitted to court
-But we also are going to be celebrating little A's 2nd birthday on Tuesday the 8th.
We are excited to be planning a little birthday party for her here but also just realize how far away we are from bringing her home.....which is very hard

Since all of my posts have been sharing the pain in my heart I wanted to give thanks for one happy thing. Two fellow adoptive family were in Ethiopia last week and took some pictures and video for us. We haven't gotten them yet but hope to sometimes soon. I'm so excited to be able to see the video of her, I'm sure it will make me cry again but it will be good crying=)

So if you would join us in praying for
-the Lord to allow our case to move forward
-A to have a wonderful birthday
-that A would be able to gain the weight she lost during her time in Awassa. She will be turning 2 but she only weighs 16 lbs....she lost 6lbs in 3 months!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Some news.....

So we finally got some news on what is taking our case so long. It seems that the courts want additional paperwork that prior to the new changes they never asked for.
So our social worker says that the team in ET is hoping to get our case submitted next week. I'm VERY hesitant to get excited since we have had so many problems. So we will see what pans out next week. Please pray that things will start moving smoothly. We have been waiting much longer than anticipated and it's really taking it's toll on us. We just want to get our little girl home!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Update (week 13)

Well this week we finally got some good news. It wasn't news about our case but an update on our little girl!!! All I can say is we are so in love with her already.
We got 13 pictures of her at the transition house in Addis Ababa. She is doing okay she lost some weight between our last update on her and this one, so that is something we are praying for. She seems to have handled the transition from Awassa to Addis well (that is an answer to our prayers!). We can't post any pictures of her yet but I can put this up.....

If you want to see the pictures stop me because I'm sure I'll have them on me!!

We don't have any court news to share.
I spoke with our social worker this week and expressed our concern about the lack of movement on our case, so we will be speaking with HQ next week to hunt down the answers to that question. It really shouldn't be too much longer. But we still have a LONG road ahead of us. Once we are submitted we have to wait 2-4 weeks to get a date and then anywhere from 6-10 weeks for that date to arrive. So we may not be traveling till April (6 months from the time we got our referral!).
Then we have to work on an embassy date. Right now the US embassy is selecting families out for special field investigations to continue to make sure things are being done very ethically and with the kids best interest at heart. This is good but it can add on months to your wait for a date. I am just praying that by the time we get to that point all the investigations will be cleared up and at least that part will go smoothly for us!
I know when we are finally home holding sweet little A that everything we have had to go through will be worth it. But just like while your in labor you can't see that ever happening! You can't believe that one day the pain you feel right now will be a distant memory, something you would subject yourself to again. That's the pain we're feeling right now. If anyone ever says adoption is an easy way to grow your family, HA, I'm here to tell you they are WRONG!!!! I went overdue by 2 weeks and 3 weeks, had PUPPP for 3 months while I was 8 months pregnant (horrible rash all over...like you rolled in poison ivy)and went through 30 hours of labor only to have a
c-section at the very end! So yea I know what pain is involved in a pregnancy but the pains involved in an adoption are so deep they feel just as real as any pregnancy pain you'll experience. But all I have to do is look at the picture of that sweet faced little girl and I know I can't give up. I will fight for her, advocate for her and finally get her home! We will do what it takes no matter how hard that is!

Monday, January 10, 2011

These were christmas gifts from my mom to the girls. They each have their names on them. Can't wait for A to come home and play with it!!!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Update on our Adoption (12 weeks)

Well really there hasn't been much news. We did hear (finally) that they are planning on moving her this week to Addis Ababa. Once she is there they will do an update and send it our way. Of course I'll make a post when we finally get it!

One good thing that has come from the news about her being moved is that I KNOW she will be there when a friend I met on the Bethany Boards goes over. She has offered to take pictures for us and try to give our little girl this baby doll.

I can't wait till she gets back and can tell me whats she is like and enjoy all the new pictures we get!

Please keep praying for A and for us as we wait for our case to go to court!

Isaac's Star Wars Birthday (his 5th)

So for Isaac's 5th birthday we took him to Chucky Cheese. He was SO excited .

This is what they look like after.....=)

We went home and he got to open all the gifts from his grandparents, aunts & uncles, brother and sister and from us....he had so much fun!